Earth, Wind, and... Motorcycles

I got through the entire weekend without updating my blog. Mostly visiting with family, which while blog worthy, didn't give me a whole lot to write about. But not to worry, I'm going to cover it all in this episode call Earth, Wind, and... Motorcycles. Buckle up boys and girls, it's going to be epic!

Let's continue where we left off last week.

Got up crazy early Friday morning, I'm pretty sure it was like 3:00 in the morning. But then again I was in bed sleeping by 8:30. I really don't want to mess up my sleep schedule to go home just to fix it. I didn't want to leave because I had this awesome room and I was in Vegas, which from the view out my window it was still happening. Noticed exhibit A -

EXHIBIT A

After dropping a couple bucks in the slot machines I packed up and headed out. First stop Hover Dam. I had been here a million times when I was kid from visiting in summers and don't remember it being so close to Vegas, but then again I wasn't driving either. My grandma likes to take road trips quite a bit and sometimes the route would be over the dam.

Fun Fact: The Hover Dam name was changed to Boulder Dam at one time. The people of Boulder didn't want to give Hover the credit of having built the dam (or something like that). It was huge financial burden and people died in the building of it. Eventually it was changed back. (please no fact checking)

Boulder / Hover Dam

The dam has changed A LOT since I was last here. You used to be able to drive over and it and keep on going. Now they have the highway going over the dam and the other side closed. I drove down and over to the other side, snapped this photo, then was back on my way.

Things started warming up quite quickly at that point. I think by the time I rolled into my aunts house a couple hours later it was in the 100's. Luckily it wasn't to far. Here is a couple shot of the grounds around the house.

And last but not least, two of the finest people in the world - Terri and Steve.

I got there about 12:30 and by 10:00 that night, 2 bottles of wine and a few beer, we never left the table chatting. It was a great day! The next morning I was off again! 

I had intended on going to the Grand Canyon on this trip, but the dust bowl heat was starting to get to me. I headed straight to Phoenix to visit my cousin about 7 that morning, hoping to miss most of the heat. While I'm sure that was true for the most part, it was well into the 100's by the time I got to Phoenix. It was worth the trip, I had lunch with my cousin and his wife, who again are two more of the finest people in the world. I wish I had taken more pictures, but we were to busy talking about our summers together growing up and other family members. There is always plenty to talk about in our family. Here is Mike and I.

I fell a sleep that night right before 8 and was back at it at 5:00 the next morning. I had to miss the heat, it's brutal and you can't escape it. It was already in the 80's (or maybe it was never cooler) and I hoped on the interstate heading to Las Angeles. I would as a rule try to avoid any interstates, but this was an emergency to get out of the dust bowl. I did snap this awesome picture of the sun coming up in my mirror.

Welcome to California sign

The wind farm in Palm Springs

This is where things started to get crazy. The wind was beating me up and would not let up. It kicked my ass all the way to LA. There were some small things to help distract me from the madness, like knowing I was on Ventura Highway and putting on the song "Ventura Highway" by American and listening to it. I wasn't by the ocean to long after I got through LA, but I was able to snap this shot. Pretty sure it was my first view of the ocean this entire trip. Only look 4,000 miles + to get me here.

The magician -

I made it a couple hundred more miles and traffic started getting bad. I'm not sure if people were heading into San Francisco and this was the norm or what, but there was a few times when the traffic was at a dead stop. Luckily for me it wasn't burning up outside, in fact I think it was in the 80's. However, I did want to get into San Francisco so I could enjoy it while the sun was still up. After about 20 minutes of weaving my way through traffic trying to figure out which lane would be the best to stay in, I saw a guy in my peripheral vision trying to talk to me. In most situations I might have just ignored him since I had ear plugs in and takes a lot of effort to hold a conversation, but this situation felt different. I waited for him to pull up next to me so I could understand him. The truck looked like something you would see in Kentucky and he was smiling real big. There was a lady sitting next to him smiling just as big and looking agreeable to whatever he was trying to tell me. I pulled my helmet front up and asked him to repeat himself. 

He was yelling "SPLIT HE LANE". I didn't understand. I replied with "I'm sorry?", looking confused. "SPLIT THE LANE DUDE!!! YOU'RE IN CALI, YOU CAN RIDE DOWN THE MIDDLE". It took me a minute to grasp what he was saying and all of a sudden something magical happened. Time slowed down and looked at the traffic in front of me and back at him. His voice echoed this time and with an even bigger smile he yelled "SPLIT THE LANE". I felt my foot my pop the bike into first great with a hard thump and I revved the bike with the clutch still pulled in. This feeling of entitlement came over me.... no no no.... not entitlement, SUPER POWER!!! With that first rev of the bike a whole new road opened up right in the middle of the cars and it was laid out with pretty white stripes. I glanced over at my new friend (aka the magician who gave my bike super powers) and give him a big thumbs up. I felt like the girl in the passenger seat was applauding for me, I'm sure she wasn't but it felt like it. 

I took off in between all the cars with a little scream like someone had just jumped out behind a wall and scared me. And then people started moving out of my way! This is when the feeling of entitlement took over and I owned the road. I might as well of had a police escort. After that traffic was no longer an issue, ever.

I did make it into San Francisco with plenty of time to mess around, but I'll have to get to that tomorrow. I need to get on the road and to a winery by 8 tonight. I leave you with a picture of me having over indulged in wine and spirits last night. 

Death Valley

Good morning and welcome to another addition of "Ride to Live". My days or riding seems to be getting shorter. I'm not sure if it's because I am leaving earlier in the morning or my routes really are shorter. I did almost 500 miles yesterday which wasn't that much shorter than the day before. I've had some pretty nice places the stay the last couple of nights, so it's been worth getting here early for.

Let's get to it! Woke up early and headed out about 5:30. The stars were amazing this morning and I tied to get a photo of them but my phone was just confused. I was able to grab this shot of the sun coming over the mountain.

It was about 60 degrees at the resort when I rode off (into the sunrise) as soon I as I got the south side of the lake the temperature dropped like crazy. I looked down at one point and it was in the mid 40's. Luckily this didn't last to long, but I think it hung around the mid 50's till about 9:00. 

I wish I had taken some photos of the Sierra Mountains, because they were amazing! The roads in Yosemite were all over the place, which was really fun. I don't think I realized eastern California had so many mountains. I knew there was a mountain range there, just didn't realize how big the peaks were. I came out of the park and the weather shot up. It was only a couple hours later and it was already in the 90's. Here's a few shots I tried to get.

I rolled into Las Vegas and it was well over 100 degrees and I was melting quickly. My legs were cramping up pretty bad this afternoon too. I'm not sure if it was from going from such cold weather to hot or if I was dehydrated. Maybe a little of both?

Got checked into my room and it's about as big as my condo at home.

I picked this hotel, one it's a Marriott property, but also because it's right across the street from BurGR. The food was fantastic! The service, not so much. I was torn between two different burgers, one was pork and one was beef, so I asked the bartender which one he would recommend. His response "well one is pork and one is beef, which one do you want?". We were clearly not on the same page. 

I would eat here again, just wouldn't sit at the bar. 

That's all I have for this day. The next couple days are going to be visiting family in Arizona, which I know I'm going to melt there too. I'll be hitting the Grand Canyon and Sedona.

I should also mention. It's really amazing how people like to move out of my way when I'm on the bike. Especially in the parks when they know I want to hit the curves. So either I'm just really annoying following people or they are just really friendly around here... Maybe a little of both? Either way, it's AWESOME!

Keep the rubber on the pavement.

Go Go Speed Racer!

I woke up crazy early this morning. Well.... I went to bed crazy early too. But I was sleeping really good and the stupid air conditioner in the room came on (was really loud), so I laid there waiting for it to go off so I could go back to sleep. Nothing. Screw it, I got up and turned off the air and figured I might as well head out. I think I got about the door about 5:15, it was pitch black outside. It must of been cloudy because there was nothing. I took off down through the town, made a couple turned and hopped on highway 50; which apparently is "The Loneliest Highway" in the US? I'm not sure but they had signs. This is what Highway 50 looks like - 

 

The straightest / longest road I have ever been on. Seriously it was nothing but little mountains and valleys. So you know that means at 6:00 in the morning.... I had the road ALL TO MYSELF!! I didn't really open it up initially because it was dark out and I was have this reflecting - meditation moment being out there alone in the dark. It was nice. But once the lights came on, it was on! I would go from summit to summit with cruise on just over 100 all the way. I had to fill up for gas 4 times today! I honestly had no idea that going that fast used up twice the gas. Sure more, but twice? I might need a 7th gear. 

The weather was great! A little chilly at times, especially when I would reach the top of each "summit". Then it would warm up a little when I would get to the bottom. There wasn't a whole lot of exciting stuff to look at, it was more just enjoying the bike and being out on the open road alone. 

Made my way into Reno and the temperature went up 20 degrees somehow. Maybe because it was later in the afternoon, maybe because it was Reno. Who knows? I lived up the mountain from Reno about 18 years ago and I don't remember it being so.... dirty. There were bums everywhere! I almost got on video a bum arguing with a cab driver after he threw his soda on his cab. But it ended quickly, maybe this is a normal thing. So, I got the photos I needed, had a drink and bailed.... This is all that remains -

OH! I did come across a lot of police motorcycle and was HIGHLY impress! See for yourself, you'll know what I'm talking about.

GO RENO!!! Reno 911 finally paid off.

I looked down at the heat before I left and it was 93 (109 under the bucket on my head). I quickly made my way up the hill to Lake Tahoe, which at the summit was 68 (30 miles away). This was a nice break the heat. The hotel that I got reserved was on the North side of lake and I came in from the east, so I decided to make a loop around the lake before calling it a night. I also stopped by the 7-11 I use to work at and grab a quick photo. Here is it and a few others I took of the lake.

It's a lake and it's really pretty. The photos don't do it a whole lot of justice (as I always say). Around the lake I go and up to the hotel. Which, I was fortunate (with the help of a few others) to land a killer room at the Ritz on top of the mountain. It's not on lake, but it's pretty bad ass! I had a couple drinks, caught up on shows and ordered dinner to the room. I have a feeling I won't be waking up to the sounds of an air conditioner tomorrow morning. 

That's it for tonight! Off to Yosemite National Park tomorrow morning, then the night in Las Vegas. More to come soon!

It cracks me up how where I was driving fast turns to a blur.